


Better late than never

by Angel23



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/F, Implied/Referenced Homophobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-11
Updated: 2020-01-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:07:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22207606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angel23/pseuds/Angel23
Summary: You can't help who you love and once you start, you can't get rid of it. Max has tried to move on from her crush on Eleven. Well tried to.Now they were cities apart, is it too late to confess their love?
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper/Maxine "Max" Mayfield
Comments: 8
Kudos: 20





	Better late than never

Eleven

Max couldn’t get her mind off that girl. 

She spent years trying to keep in touch with her and visa versa. While also trying to move on with her life, try to that was. After breaking up with Lucas for the last time, she started dating girls, but no matter how good the dates were, she couldn’t bring herself to love them. This got her into trouble when boys at school get jealous of her stealing their crushes and when her stepfather finds her with her girlfriends. It didn’t worry her, she fought back and taught them a lesson. She only wished a certain someone would be there to have her back. Problem was, that someone wasn’t even in the same state.

"Two months to go” Max whispered. Sitting in her bedroom alone, listening to music and the storm outside. Kicking back in her chair with her feet resting on top of the study desk near her bed. Two more months and high school would be over. She will be free of this town and move far from here, back to California for college. Far away from her so-called family.  
Max was too busy reading the latest edition of Wonder Woman comic to notice what exactly was going out in the storm. 

A soaking wet figure approached the glass window of Max’s room. She had shoulder-length brown hair, dark brown eyes, red and black flannel shirt and jeans. She started tapping her hand on the window, soft at first, then turned to hard thumps that made Max leap out of her chair.

“What the fuck!” Max cursed in surprise. She turned to the source and gasped upon recognition. 

Outside her window was El, smiling broadly and tapping on the window. She was much older now when Max last saw her, but she knew it was her from only one glance. 

“What the fuck are you doing?” Max cursed again, still in shock, as she ran to the window, opening it up and allowing the woman to crawl inside.

“I had to see you, it was important” El insisted, giving a quick glance around the room before fixing her eyes onto Max.

“What was so important that a simple phone call wouldn’t do it?” the ginger girl asked, closing the window. 

“You are” El replied. 

Max’s eyebrows raised higher for a second. For someone to think she was important was still such a strange concept to her, even though she heard it from her friends. She saw something comforting in El’s gaze, a loving look only for her. 

“Max, I’m in love with you. I have been for a long time, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner and I wanted to know if you feel the same?” El asked, with a hint of nervousness. 

Max walked over to her, having no idea what to say, so she decided to express what she was feeling. Cupping El’s face, Max leaned closer and gently kissed El on the lips She started to pull back when El grabbed hold of the woman, holding her in place. So, they shared another kiss, much longer and both reciprocating. They only pulled away when they were both completely out of breath. 

“So…is that a yes?” El asked grinning.

Max let out a laugh while nodding “Yes, yes I’m in love with you too El. Did you really come down from New York just to tell me that?”

“Yes, I wanted you to know. Can I kiss you again?”

“Yes”

Eleven didn’t waste any time, pulling Max closer to her and kissing her. Max then guided Eleven to her bed, falling backwards onto the mattress. 

The next morning, Max woke up, happier than she has ever been for a long time. She rolled over to face Eleven, the girl hidden under a mess of wild brown hair. The sight made her grin wider, proof that last night wasn’t a dream and the two are now actually together. Max rolled onto her back and reflected about that night, how they made out for what felt like hours, she got El some dryer clothes and they talked for half the night.

Nothing could go wrong today.

Then the door burst open and in walked her mother. The woman was about to question her when she saw Eleven in bed beside her daughter. Miss Hargrove gasped in shock, muttered to herself then ran out of the room in shock. 

“Wait, Mum, stop!” Max called out, flinging open the covers and leaping out of her bed, running after her mother. ‘Great, now I jinx it’ Max thought as she ran. 

She caught up with her mother in the middle of their hallway, the woman standing with her back against the wall. “How come you didn’t tell me?” Miss Hargrove asked, turning slowly to face her daughter. 

“Mum we never see each other and there hasn’t been a good time. Besides what you saw isn’t what you think”

To make her morning worst, her stepfather waltz into the hallway, drunk as ever. Clearing investigating what the commotion where the rest of them got to. The very last thing Max wanted to deal with right now. 

“What’s going on?” he growled, looking at his wife and then his stepdaughter. 

“Nothing” Max answered. 

“Oooh nothing really, you better not have one of those lesbos in your room again!” he threatened, clutching his right fist. 

Miss Hargrove turned to him astonished and asked: “How long have you known she was gay?”

“Mum just drop it!” Max shouted, but it was no use, the two were ignoring her like usual. 

His fiery, drunken eyes were soon set on Max and her alone. “Long time now, after I caught her with one of them in town. So, you now bring it into my house, what have I told you, Max. You live in my house you live under my rules. Now I’m going to remind you!” 

Max took a step back in reaction, getting into a fighting stance and her fist held to her chest. “Don’t even try it!” she threatened.

Mr Hargrove laughed dryly, staggering forward. “Oh, tough girl eh, I’ll show you tough!”. The man then launched himself forward, with a strong fist thrown straight for her head. 

But it never hit her, His whole arm was frozen in the air, he tried his other fist, but it too became frozen in space. Bow both limbs suspended in the air and the rest of him working tiredly to get free, pushing his lower half as far back as he can manage. All the while cursing under his breath in frustration. No matter what he did, his arms wouldn’t budge. 

Max turned around to see Eleven standing behind her, at the end of the hallway, glaring darkly at Mr Hargrove.

Eleven walked over to the family, never taking her eyes off the drunk as she grabbed hold of Max’s hand, taking a stand beside her girlfriend. “You will not hurt them ever again!” El stated, her voice sounding more darker than before.

His body was suddenly thrown back through the house, crashing through brick walls and thrown out into the front yard.  
Max’s mother didn’t know what to do, so she remained in the hallway, looking back and forth to her husband and her daughter’s powerful lover.

El turned back to Max, her face softened the moment she saw her girlfriend, completely ignoring the blood trickling out of her nose. “Are you okay?”

Max nodded, wiping a stray tear from her own face, then bringing out a hanky for her girlfriend. “Yeah I’m fine” she answered. She then leant over and handed the hanky to her girlfriend, watching her wipe the blood clear from her face. 

“I won’t let them hurt you, I’m always here for you”

“Same goes to you too El”

Max then kissed El on the lips, only briefly before pulling away completely. “Let’s get out of here for good” then she dragged El back into her room to pack.

When the two lovers left twenty minutes later, they carried a bag on each shoulder and Max having her skateboard in hand. They passed Mr Hargrove, who was groaning while still lying on the ground and continued down the street, to the only place they could think of staying. The Wheelers household. 

“Wait!” Miss Hargrove’s voice called after them. 

So they stopped, turned to face her running after them and waited still holding each other’s hand. 

“Here, this is all I have!” Miss Hargrove insisted, forcing a couple of hundred dollars to her daughter, which surprised both of them. “It’s not much, but it will help in the meantime. He’ll move on, you know him and then you will be back and everything will be normal again”

“Mother I’m not coming back, after school I’m going to college remember and I will not live under his house any more!” Max stated. 

Her mother sucked in some air and nodded “Yes of course, just stay in touch and if you need anything you call me. I still love you”

“I love you too mother” Max spoke. 

Her mother then wrapped her arms around the ginger teen, holding her for several seconds then pulling away to turn and face Eleven. “You will protect my daughter, right?” she asked. 

“Yes”

“Then you two better go”

Miss Hargrove started walking backwards, wrapping her arms around her body, holding onto herself as she watched them leave. Her daughter stuffing the money into her pockets as they wandered down the street.

“How long will you stay? I’m sure Joyce isn’t happy that you left” Max asked, refusing to look back on her mother and that dreadful house.

“Probably not, I’ll have to catch a bus soon” El stated, then looked over to Max. “But not now, we’ll talk to Mike, get you a place to live” 

“After school, I’m going to California, got myself a scholarship to a college up there”

“California, I never been there” El stated amused. 

“Then come with me, we can go up there together” Max spoke up, smiling broadly at the idea. 

“Together, yeah I like that. Let’s go to California” El stated.

The two then wrapped each other’s free arms around their shoulders, then proceeded down the street, happily discussing their plan for California. 

Turns out they were right about staying with the Wheeler’s, they were happy to host Max and the woman, in turn, gave them money each week. Although Miss Wheeler kept on refusing the money, Max wouldn’t dare live with them without giving back to the family in some way. Keeping the rest of her money for the trip.  
Once High School finished, Eleven catches the first plane back to Hawkins. Max got Billy’s old car up and running like new and the two left town and their friends. On a much-needed road trip to California, the long way around. 

At last, they were free.


End file.
